Fruit packer



July 3,. '1934. A, Ej.; MOONE f 1,964,741

A FRUIT PACKER Filred March 25, 19,51

Patented July 3, 1934 UNITED STATILS FRUIT PACKER Albert E. F. Moone,Chicago, Ill., assgnor, by mesne assignments, to The Carpenter-HiattSales Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Colorado ApplicationMarch 25, 1931, Serial No. 525,097

Claims.

f1.9' formly spacing said rim from said ring when the ring is in itsreleased position.

The invention accomplishes numerous objects, chief among these being theprovision of apparatus which speeds up the process of packing fruit orthe like and which may nevertheless be simply and cheaply constructed.Prior attempts atproviding clamps have been unsatisfactory becauseeither the clamps would not work Well, or their use involved the wasteof too much 201 time in applying or removing them. Also there wereusually separable parts which soon became injured or lost.

With these and various other objects in view, the invention may consistof certain novel features of construction and operation, as will be morefully described and particularly pointed out in the specification,ydrawing and claims appended hereto.

In the drawing, which illustrates an embodiment of the device, andwherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts,

Figure 1 is a perspective'view of the improved apparatus showing itsuse;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the apparatus of Bcl Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken through the line 3--3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a plan View of a modificationi and Figure 5 is a sectionalview taken through the loi line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Although this invention may take many forms, only two have been chosenfor illustration. In both of these the invention comprises thecombination of certain attachments with the facing plate 10. This facingplate is used in a Way similar to that in which it has been formerlyused. The top choice fruit is placed on the face of the plate, a liner12 is slipped over the rim and is filled up, a basket is slipped overthe liner,

5o and the assembly is inverted and the facing plate removed, leavingthe liner in the basket and the fruit packed therein with the upperlayer uniformly and attractively spaced. The facing plates are providedwith a rim 1.4 for centering `the liner 12, which may be pressed downeither on theoutside or on the inside of the rim. It is desirable alsoto provide a flange 16 to aid in handling the facing plate with thebasket and for the purposes hereinafter described.

In the form shown in Figure 2, a split ring 60, 18 is provided on theoutside ofthe rim 14. This ring preferably has a tendency to spread morethan the amount shown, though special spring means may be provided forthis purpose if desired. In order to cause the ring 18 to spread 65uniformly and to space itself uniformly from the rim 14 when it expands,a circumferential series of lstops or guides 20 is secured to the fiange16, as shown. Ihese are shaped to eX- tend over the ring 18 to hold itin position leven 70 when the facing plate is inverted. A pair ofcontracting levers 22 is provided, one secured to each end of the splitring 18. Both of the levers 22 are pivoted as by the bolt 24 to the ange16. An operating handle 26 is also pivoted to '75 the iiange as at 28between the outer endsrof the levers 22 Vfor the purpose of spreadingthe outer ends to force the inner ends toward each other and to contractthe split ring 18.

The apparatus shown in Figures 4 and 5 is quite 80 similar although itis adapted for securing the liner on the inside of the rim 14 instead ofon the outside. A split ring 30 is provided being held in place by theguides 32 which are spaced around the inside of the rim. The guides 32serve the S5 additional function of limiting the contraction of thesplit ringBO at the various points, so that its contraction will beuniform. In this case, the split ring 30 has a natural tendency tocontract.

In both this form and the form shown in the other figures, the guides 32or 20 may have their upper surfaces inclined so as to aid in guiding theliner to position. When the liner 12 has been put in place the splitring 30 is expanded to clamp the liner between it and the rim 14 by thelevers 95V 34, which are pivoted about the fulcrum 36. The levers 34 areoperated by the operating handle 38 which is pivoted to the flange 16 atsome point 40 which vis preferably between the outer ends of the levers34.

From this description of the drawing, it is apparent that the operationof this device is extremely simple. The liner which may be of anydesired form is simply opened and slipped between the rim 14 and thesplit ring 18 or 3Q. The 105 ring is then altered in size by contractionin Figure 2, or by expansion in Figure 4, to clamp the liner against therim 14. This operation is performed by the simple turn of a singlehandle 36 or 38, and when the parts have been inverted with 1l@ thefruit basket, the facing plate is released from the liner equally simplyby a turn of the single handle 26 or 38 permitting the split ring 18 or30 to return to its normal position.

It is to be understood that many other` embodiments of the invention,including some in improved form, will be apparent, and in the course oftime more will be devised by those skilled in the art. It is not desiredthat this invention be limited to the details described, for its scopeincludes all such forms or improvements as come within the spirit of thefollowing claims, construed as broadly as the prior art will permit.Specifically it might be pointed out that instead of a ring there mightbe used a group of invidual clamps, or one of them, and any clamps couldbe normally active, but released momentarily by an operating handle.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with a facing plate having an upstanding annularshoulder of means secured to the facing plate for clamping a fruit linerthereto at a plurality of points, each located substantially one-thirdor more of the circumference of the shoulder from one or more other saidpoints by a pinching action on a single wall thereof against saidshoulder, and means including a single handle continuously secured inoperative relation .thereto for completely operating said clampingmeans.

2. The combination of a facing plate including an upstanding rim, asplit ring adjacent said rim but normally spaced therefrom for theinsertion of a fruit liner therebetween, means for altering I the sizeof said split ring to clamp said liner against said rim, said meansincluding a pair of pivoted levers, and a handle arranged to pivot saidlevers relatively.

3. The combination of a facing plate including 7 an upstanding rim, asplit ring adjacent said rim,

and secured to said facing plate but normally spaced therefrom for theinsertion of a fruit liner therebetween, means continuously secured inoperative relation to said split ring for altering the size of saidsplit ring to clamp said liner against said rim.

4. The combination of a facing plate including an upstanding rim, anexpansible ring continuously secured adjacent said rim but normallyspaced therefrom for the insertion of a fruit liner therebetween, andmeans continuously secured in an operative relation for expanding saidsplit ring to clamp said liner against said rim.

5. 'I'he combination of a facing plate including an upstanding rim, acontractible ring continuously secured adjacent said rim but normallyspaced therefrom for the insertion of a fruit liner therebetween, andmeans continuously secured in an operative relation for contracting saidsplit ring to clamp said liner against said rim.

6. The combination of a facing plate including an upstanding rim, asplit ring adjacent said rim but normally spaced therefrom for theinsertion of a fruit liner therebetween, means for altering the size ofsaid split ring to clamp said liner against said rim, said meansincluding a pair of levers pivoted to said facing plate, and a handlecontinuously arranged to operate both of said levers.

7. The combination of a facing plate including an upstanding rim, asplit ring adjacent said rim but normally spaced therefrom for theinsertion of a fruit liner therebetween, means for altering the size ofsaid split ring to clamp said liner against said rim, and means forlimiting the movement of various parts of said split ring away from saidrim to insure its even spacing therefrom.

8. The combination of a facing plate having an upstanding annularshoulder thereon, means for clamping a fruit liner against said shoulderat a plurality of points each substantially diametrically opposed toanother, a single handle for completely operating said clamping means,and means for causing said clamping means when' released to be uniformlyspaced from said annular shoulder at various points.

9. The combination of a facing plate having an annular substantiallyvertical shoulder thereon, and means continuously secured in operativerelation to said plate for clamping a fruit liner 1 by a pinching actionagainst said shoulder throughout substantially the entire circumference.y

10. The combination of a facing plate including an annular uprisingvshoulder and clamping 1 means attached permanently to said facing plateand constructed to pinch a liner against said shoulder at a plurality ofpoints, each located substantially one-third or more of thecircumference of the shoulder from one or more other said 1 pointsaround said shoulder.

ALBERT E. F. MOONE.

